Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad were allegedly communicating before rebels took over the Syrian government in December.

An Assad official claims Putin betrayed his ally by promising support that never came.

Rebel forces swarmed Assad’s presidential palace to find valuables including pills and a signed poster of the late Queen ... asylum on the direct orders of Putin but disclosed no further ...

“Politics is the art of compromise,” he said ... Putin says he'll ask Assad about missing American Tice In his first comments ...

“Politics is the art of compromise,” he said ... Assad about missing American In his first comments on Assad’s downfall, Putin said that he hadn’t yet met the former Syrian ruler ...

Putin has said he will ask the deposed president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, about the U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in the country 12 years ago. “I promise to ask this question,” he ...

“Politics is the art of compromise,” he added ... ended the country's 13-year-long civil war. Despite harboring Assad, Putin said he has yet to catch up with his ally.